Product Reviews

This month's notebook Labs features nine notebooks costing £750 including VAT. Samsung's Q45 costs just £50 more than that, but it's an ultra-portable and is very different to our Labs winner, the Dell Inspiron 1520. If you need a notebook you can carry around all day, this is a better choice.

The all-black colour scheme gives the Q45 a sturdy business-like feel and this is borne out by a rigid chassis. It doesn't flex under stress, so it should be able to take a few knocks, and given that it is only 1.9kg you'll be able to take it with you wherever you go. It'll easily slip into a briefcase or satchel thanks to its small dimensions; however, the large battery extends an extra 19mm at the back.

The big 4,800mAh battery pack lasted for an impressive four hours and nine minutes in our light usage test. This is an impressive score and makes the Q45 suitable for all-day use as a mobile computer. Buy a second battery, and you could get a full working day out of the pair. The supplied battery has

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a handy built-in charge indicator, too, so you'll always know how much charge any spare batteries contain.

There are only two USB ports on this notebook. A memory card reader is also provided with support for SD, MS and xD cards, while a FireWire port sits alongside the CardBus expansion slot. Inside the chassis, there's a 160GB hard disk, so there's plenty of space for storing your files.

The 12.1in display has the same 1,280x800 pixel resolution as most 15.4in displays. The smaller size can make everything seem a bit cramped and you'll need to increase text size to make it easily legible. Samsung has used a gloss finish on the display, which isn't the best choice for use on the move, because it exaggerates reflections on the screen from bright light sources.

The keyboard is a joy to use. It has a firm base, so the keyboard doesn't flex when you type. The keys provide clear feedback when pressed. Samsung has also done a good job with the layout. All the vital keys were easily big enough for our fingers.

The Q45 has an Intel Core 2 Duo T7100 processor. With 2GB of RAM, it is capable of accomplishing any task you would want to undertake on such a small display. Unlike our Labs winner from Dell, however, the Q45 has no dedicated graphics chipset and isn't suitable for playing 3D games.

If you're looking for a smart and compact notebook for use on the move, but don't want to spend a fortune, Samsung's Q45 is an excellent choice. However, if you want a big screen for enjoying videos, DVD and photos, or you want to play games, you're better off with Dell's Inspiron 1520.